In your “Queen of Swords” are you with Pushkin or with Tchaikovsky?
Yuri Posokhov: This is a very big dilemma: whether to take as a basis an opera libretto or Pushkin’s original text. At first they planned to follow Pushkin. It is generally accepted that Tchaikovsky’s opera is brilliant and that contemporaries rained thunder and lightning on the libretto of his brother Modest. But why is historical distance important? Time shows that the opera with this libretto is recognized as a world masterpiece. And it doesn’t matter what they said a hundred years ago.
Tchaikovsky’s opera is believed to be brilliant and contemporaries rained thunder and lightning on his libretto.
Theater and literature are not always coordinated. And so Modest overcame this, he came up with a brilliant theatrical story: there is a love story, there is drama. The music matches the story. That’s why we switched to the opera side. But even with this brilliant foundation we had to work, because opera and ballet are also different genres. Already at the base of the opera we came up with our own version. And in this reworking we were all present: both the playwright and myself as choreographer and composer. Yes, the composer guided us down the path I took and the playwright connected and approved everything.
So let’s go back to zero. Where did the queen of spades come from?
Yuri Posokhov: I have my own library of thoughts, where, like on a shelf, I organize my feelings: what I should do in the future. The “Queen of Spades” stayed there for a long time and never let go. But everything was decided with the death of Liam Scarlett, an exceptional man, it seems to me, and whom he loved very much. I was at the premiere of his “Queen of Spades” at the Royal Danish Ballet, after which I approached him and expressed my passion, told myself what didn’t suit me in his performance. He treated it with irony: the Russians came to teach how to stage Russian history. He still didn’t change anything in the performance, and that’s true: every director has the right to have his own opinion of him. But I felt like he wanted to prove that he was right.
So why has “The Queen of Spades” kept you going for so many years? The story of Herman the player, fatal love?
Yuri Posokhov: You asked a question and answered it yourself. Thanks for the reply.
Personally, how do you feel about Herman?
Yuri Posokhov: In general I treat people with sympathy. They make mistakes, they do wrong things… If I don’t understand the hero, then I don’t need to talk about him at all. I love Herman and when you see the end of the ballet you will understand why.
Your ending is very clear even in the script.
Yuri Possokhov: No, no, the libretto is the basis, the starting point of work on the play. This does not mean that the final decision in the scenario matches exactly what was written. What is interesting about theater? Unpredictability! You never know what it will be like. We will have a turn that you do not expect. Now, after all the months of rehearsals, everything has come together in a common wave, the whole performance is being built for the sake of one big, beautiful idea. We as a team feel this.
Tchaikovsky in his “Queen of Swords” changed the moment of action. And you?
Yuri Posokhov: Ballet is such a figurative art that defining centuries and years is completely absurd. Our history is not tied to a specific historical time. Probably, according to some details, it can be attributed to the 19th century. But we strove to achieve such a state that it would not be necessary to determine time, as in the same “Cinderella”. This is fantasy. For me the main thing is to convey the idea that I want to convey in the performance.
Is this the first time you’ve worked on a major ballet without a director?
Yuri Posokhov: Far from the first. Only in Russia did I do big ballets with directors, on purpose, because Russia has a special level of conducting culture. I myself have always sought the collaboration of directors. Those who forced me to study and not work against my own instinct. For me it is always important to work with the feeling that I am learning from the best. I found all the directors of my performances and took them to the performances myself. They made me fight, scream, hate. But at the same time we created performances that, for me, were extraordinary. It was for this originality that I worked.
How did Valery Pecheikin, who wrote the script, end up on your team?
Yuri Posokhov: We met through the Gogol Center, where he worked, and I asked him to write a libretto for my ballet Anna Karenina. Now this performance is performed in the United States, Australia and tours many times: the work has been a success.
You used Yuri Krasavin’s music more than 20 years ago in Magrittomania, a ballet thanks to which you gained recognition as a choreographer. How did your reunion occur in this new stage?
Yuri Posokhov: I consider Yuri an absolutely extraordinary, exceptional composer. A few years ago I was supposed to work with him on A Hero of Our Time. But then the cooperation did not work. And I thought about him all the time, because I have the most pleasant feelings, not only human, but also professional. He is now opening up more than ever: he is launching performance after performance, a fireworks display of marvelous works. Do you know that he wrote another ballet, “The Lady of Swords,” with completely different music, commissioned by another theater? I heard it. The music is phenomenal, it really impressed me. And recently I saw his “Dancemania” staged by Slava Samodurov and I also wanted to use this music. I immediately called Yura and asked for permission. When music inspires you so much, motivates you so much to create something, that’s Yura Krasavin.
How did the artist Polina Bakhtina come to your team?
Yuri Posokhov: Several years ago I made “Francesca da Rimini” for the MuzArts company and producer Yuri Baranov offered to work with her. But they had some kind of misunderstanding, she left. But that design stayed in my head. And if I am offered to do “Francesca” somewhere else, I will definitely invite her; I didn’t expect such a decision. I think we are very similar. They are similar in imagery, in the understanding that there must be some kind of overarching image that the choreographer can work with. For me it is important that Polina follows me, understands me. A year ago, she and I did “The Nutcracker” at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre. She picked me up when the English artist refused at the last minute. Work was very hectic, we didn’t do much. But in search of a common solution, we can fly together in our images, return to Earth and fly again.
But in ballet the demand always falls on the choreographer in terms of the final result. How do you restrict the flights of your collaborators?
Yuri Posojov: There are things that are important for me to say. If I see ways to express it, I offer them to you. But without details. As a dancer, I seem to make predictable decisions. But I love the extraordinary. That’s why I like to follow those who can offer them. But only if I absolutely trust the person professionally.
Do you already know what you will do after the premiere of “The Queen of Spades”?
Yuri Posokhov: I have been doing nothing for a month. I imagine that I will sit and listen to music: Krasavin himself, Boris Tchaikovsky, the amazing St. Petersburg school of composition, which I love very much. Then I have three big performances planned until 2026. There is an order for “Swan Lake” in Hong Kong. I can’t talk about another name yet: the San Francisco Ballet will announce it. And I’m usually afraid to say the third one out loud.
So, aren’t the rumors confirmed that ballet in the West has suffered greatly from Covid?
Yuri Posokhov: Unfortunately, there is less and less money for art. Now everyone makes co-productions so that costs are reduced by half; This is actually very comfortable. In Russia, as I understand it, the problems are the same, but I am delighted to see full theaters here at any performance.
